


Understanding the Enemy

by Aaronlisa



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Between Seasons/Series, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-29
Updated: 2012-01-29
Packaged: 2017-10-30 07:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/329407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaronlisa/pseuds/Aaronlisa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darla finds herself in Sunnydale after things with Angel end in LA.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Understanding the Enemy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [brutti_ma_buoni](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brutti_ma_buoni/gifts).



> Written for brutti_ma_buoni for the Darla round at femslash_minis. The prompts were compare and contract, post ATS Season One, blonde without vamp!BUffy, and dubcon.

The Bronze hasn't really changed since the first time that she walked in here. Darla suspects that for as long as Sunnydale stays standing, the Bronze will stay the same. She sneers at the younger vampires that attempt to blend into the crowd. They stand out like sore thumbs, easy pickings for the Slayer. For the most part, the older vampires are harder to pick out. However, she still spots one or two that appear to be in some sort of time warp when it comes to their dress. 

Darla's been here the last five nights waiting for the Slayer and every night she's walked home disappointed. She's not even sure why she's in Sunnydale. She had toyed with the idea of killing Buffy Summers, perhaps torturing her, making her hurt for taking Angel from her forever. But once she arrived, she realized that killing the Slayer wouldn't really do anything. She doubts that it'd even move Angel to revenge. Darla sighs as she turns away the railing. It's time to go home, maybe even to leave Sunnydale. 

However, a glimpse of blonde hair and sun-kissed skin cause her to pause. Her right clenches the railing as Darla leans forward and watches Buffy on the dance floor. In another lifetime, Darla would have wanted Buffy for herself. She can see why Angel was so attracted to the pretty little Slayer. Even now, five years after she was first called, there's an air of innocence around Buffy. An innocence that's tainted by the darkness of her destiny. The other vampires in the Bronze are tense with similar emotions as they watch the Slayer as she throws her head back and laughs at something her friend has said to her. 

Darla emits a soft growl as she moves away from the railing and marches down the stairs. It only takes a look from her and the vampire that thought he'd try taking on the Slayer is melting back into the crowd. Darla doesn't recognize the man who's dancing with Buffy, as it is she can barely remember what her two little sidekicks look like. Still the man is of little importance as she pushes her way onto the dance floor. The song bleeds into something that seems to cause the stolen blood in her body to throb. It might just be the sight of Buffy Summers in a tight skirt and gauzy top but Darla's not about to admit feeling something for a Slayer. 

Buffy's eyes land on her and Darla simply gives the Slayer a feral smile before she melts into the crowd of the dance floor. She had seen the recognition in the Slayer's eyes, along with the confusion. Apparently Buffy and Angel aren't as close as they once were. Then again, her dear boy did have a tendency to get bored rather easily. 

It doesn't take long for Buffy to find her in a dark corner of the Bronze. (Darla briefly wonders if a vampire owns the club, what with all the convenient little cubby holes for one to have a tasty snack and all.) Buffy's all fierce and determined, Darla can almost imagine Buffy as she must have looked when she drove the sword through Angel. For some reason, the thought of it curves her lips upward into a smirk. 

"You were dead," Buffy hisses. 

Darla looks at the younger woman. She can see what Angel saw in her. Buffy is her complete opposite: soft, innocent, and sweet. Yet Darla can't quite figure out how Angel blinded himself to the similarities: the hardness underneath the pretty, blonde exterior, the need to survive at all costs, and most importantly the reek of death that lingers. They're both killers, no matter how sweet, young and innocent Buffy appears to be. 

"I am dead, my dear," Darla replies. 

Buffy's lips thin as she folds her arms over her chest. "You know what I mean." 

"Perhaps you should ask Angel to tell you the tale sometime." 

Darla smirks at the way Buffy winces at the name. Somehow the fact that Buffy still desperately loves and wants Angel, no matter the mask she wears, makes Darla feel happy. Neither of them can have Angel and that fact alone means she won't kill the Slayer. Not tonight at least. 

"I'm not here to cause you any harm." 

"As if you could," Buffy sneers. 

Lightening-fast, Darla reaches out and grips Buffy's wrist. She drags the Slayer closer, her hand hard and bruising. 

"I could if I wanted to." 

Darla pushes Buffy away and she leaves the Bronze, suddenly bored with the little acts of aggression between her and the Slayer. 

* * *

She can hear the Slayer following her. Buffy's being rather obvious. Or at the very least Darla finds herself hoping that Buffy's being obvious. If the Slayer's _actually_ that clumsy and loud, Darla wonders how she manages to stay alive when she lives in Sunnydale. Finally, tired of the game, Darla turns around and smirks when Buffy stills. 

"I know you're there," Darla calls out. 

It takes thirty seconds but finally Buffy's standing in front of her. This time, Darla folds her arms across her chest. She simply raises an eyebrow at the Slayer. If she had even a third of the time that she had with Angelus, Darla thinks that she could have made a great vampire out of Buffy Summers. 

"What do you want?" Darla asks. 

"I called Angel," Buffy replies. "He told me that I should drive a stake through your chest the first chance I had." 

"So what are you waiting for?" Darla doesn't mention how many chances that Buffy's had in the last two nights. 

"Maybe I want to hear the truth from you about what happened in LA." 

Darla wasn't quite expecting that. She casually shrugs in response. 

"There's nothing to tell. Wolfram and Hart raised me from the dead, Drusilla turned me instead of letting me die." 

Buffy laughs, it's cold and harsh. 

"Jealous dear that Wolfram and Hart used me against Angel?" 

"Hardly," Buffy says. 

The Slayer's not an accomplished liar at all but Darla thinks that maybe she can teach her a few things before she leaves town. 

"Come on," Darla says as she leads the way to her small apartment. 

Buffy follows and Darla feels a sense of delight in how trusting the Slayer is. She was never this trusting, then again she had a much harsher life than the Slayer could even imagine. 

* * *

Buffy looks around the apartment and Darla's not quite sure if she likes the distaste written on the Slayer's face. Darla drapes herself on the couch, elegant and effortless, while Buffy sinks into the chair facing the couch. 

"Why don't you sit here?" Darla asks as she pats the couch beside her. "I promise I won't bite." 

She catches the way that Buffy shivers at her words. She smiles and Buffy finally moves from the chair to the couch. Before Buffy can drop herself onto the furniture, Darla gently guides her down, arranges Buffy's body so that she's artfully posed, a picture of casual seduction. Darla likes how easy it is to mould the Slayer. In another lifetime, she would have taken the girl on and taught her the art of seduction that had cost Darla her life. 

"Look, this isn't right," Buffy says. 

Darla shifts and leans against Buffy's slender frame. The girl might look soft but she's lean and taut, all hard muscle. Darla breathes out a sigh against Buffy's hair. 

"I just want to know what he saw in you," Darla says. "It's more than just the soul." 

"I don't know what you mean." 

Darla laughs, it's breathy and seductive. She's not about to disillusion Buffy Summers when it comes to Angel. The soul didn't make Angel who he is, instead the Slayer did. However that's a secret for another night. 

"It doesn't matter," Darla whispers into her ear.

Buffy shivers when Darla presses her lips against Buffy's ear. The girl's emotions are far too easy to read. Perhaps that's what Angel liked. Darla had learned far too early on in her existence to hide her emotions and reactions. Buffy is different, she reacts, emotes and everything is out there for just anyone to read. 

Darla raises her hand and moves it along the curve of Buffy's arm, she barely touches the other woman, but it's enough. Buffy shifts on the couch and pulls Darla closer. It's Buffy that initiates the kiss between them. Where Darla would have playfully and gently seduced, Buffy is all aggression. Her mouth is hard against Darla's lips, her teeth bite down on Darla's lower lip, causing the vampire to grunt in surprise, granting Buffy access to her mouth. 

For a moment, Darla wonders if Buffy was always this aggressive or if Angelus taught her this. This isn't the girl that Angel would dream of, desire or even want. This side of Buffy is all Angelus. 

Buffy's hand reaches out and tugs on Darla's hair, making the vampire lose her train of thought. Buffy's clever hands move and touch Darla's body, making the Slayer Darla's complete focus. 

* * *

When it's over and they're laying entwined on the couch, Darla refuses to wonder what happened between them. She suddenly realize that coming to Sunnydale was a bad idea. Not that she thinks that Buffy wants anything more from her than this momentarily respite from what ever it is that's going on in her life. She strokes Buffy's back and the Slayer jerks away from her. Darla watches as Buffy hastily puts on her clothes. 

"I want you gone tomorrow night," Buffy says. "If you stay, I will kill you." 

Darla merely smiles in response. She had no desire to stay in Sunnydale but she's not about to give Buffy the impression that she's chasing her off. When Buffy looms over her, threatening and fierce, Darla stretches, showcasing her body and she catches the lust in Buffy's eyes. Even now, Buffy's transparent while Darla keeps her thoughts to herself. 

"I'll see you around," Darla replies. 

She laughs after Buffy's slammed her way out of the apartment.

 

((END))


End file.
